Thousands of refugees have died attempting to reach Europe (Picture; Getty Images)

Charities on the Greek island of Lesbos have made an enormous peace sign out of life jackets in honour of the thousands of refugees and migrants who lost their lives attempting to reach Europe across the Mediterranean Sea.

Since the start of 2015, more than 1million migrants, half of whom are from Syria, have reached Europe across the Mediterranean.

The majority have landed on places like Lesbos, a Greek islands close to Turkey.

1million refugees have arrived in Europe since the start of 2015 (Picture: AP)

Thousands have died making the journey either from Turkey to Greece or from Tunisia or Libya to Sicily, and on New Year’s Day, charities working on Lesbos honoured the dead with an enormous peace sign made from discarded life jackets.

Greenpeace, Doctors WIthout Borders, Sea-Watch, the Dutch Refugee Boat Foundation and others collected the abandoned life jackets – described as an ‘ecological timebomb’ by Greek authorities – and positioned them on the hillside near the village of Molyvos.